Elizabeth Ortiz (Fear)
Elizabeth "Liza" Ortiz'Season 1 Episode 3 ''The Dog is a main character and a survivor of the outbreak in AMC's Fear The Walking Dead. She lives with her son Chris Manawa and is divorced from her ex-husband, Travis Manawa. Liza Ortiz is a described as a "Latino-American and one of many LA residents dealing with the start of the outbreak. She is the ex-wife of Travis and mother of Chris. Following her and Travis's divorce, Chris blames his father for their separation. Pre-Apocalypse Los Angeles, California Liza lives in the outskirts of Los Angeles. At some point, she was married to Travis Manawa and had a son named Christopher, but divorced 13 years later. She had Chris' custody but Chris lives with his father three weekends per month. Before the outbreak, she was training to be a nurse at a local hospital. Post-Apocalypse Season 1 "Pilot" As Travis, Madison, and Alicia prepare for school, Travis calls Liza, who is preparing breakfast for herself and her son. Liza and Travis discuss that is his weekend to have custody of their son, in which Liza agrees. However, Christopher does not wish to spend the weekend with his father and refuses to talk to him. Liza attempts to get Christopher to see his dad, but is unsuccessful and apologizes to Travis. "So Close, Yet So Far" After a night shift and studying late at the hospital, Liza arrives home the next morning and receives a call from Travis about his whereabouts. Completely unaware of the events unfolding in the city, she is annoyed at Travis for badgering her about Chris. Later that morning, Travis arrives at Liza's house, who is angry and confused at Travis' actions. However, after calling Christopher and realizing he is in the middle of a potentially dangerous protest, Liza heads downtown to find her son with Travis. Downtown, they find Christopher filming the protest and Liza catches a glimpse of the body when the wind blows the sheet off. She is immediately concerned after seeing the homeless man with a gunshot wound to the head and his throat town apart. As she and her ex-husband lead Christopher away, riot police arrive at the same time a zombified woman is gunned down, setting off a panic. They flee the scene with terrified citizens and find themselves trapped on the streets as a riot breaks out. They are able take refuge in a barber shop, though Liza still does not understand the severity of the situation, and asks Travis what is happening after seeing his deeply troubled face. He does not tell her the details, and she attempts to stay calm for her son and the others in the shop. "The Dog" Still holed up in Daniel's barber shop, Travis and Liza come to an agreement that once the riots stop, they will return back home. Although Chris mentions that he'd prefer to be with his Liza and Travis alone, they explain to him why they can't. In the midst of the commotion, Chris alerts everyone that the walls are burning due to the rioters next door. Preparing to escape the shop, Liza, Chris, and Travis flee with Daniel and his family, however, Daniel's wife, Griselda is hurt during the riot. Driving off in Travis' truck, Liza recommends taking her to a hospital, but the hospitals are off limits due to the spread of the infection. Managing to reach Travis' home, they encounter an infected neighbor inside of his house. After a confrontation, Liza witnesses the neighbor's unlikely death. Being a nurse in training, Liza tends to Griselda's injuries and explains the severity of the injury to Travis, telling him that it could ultimately lead to her death. Liza bumps into Madison and explains that although they aren't on good terms, she'd like to form a truce considering their situation. Once the truce is made, Maddie makes Liza promise to "take care" of her if she ever gets infected, making Liza reluctantly agree. The next day, as the group plans to leave the neighborhood, they are stopped and quarantined by the military. "Not Fade Away" Looking after Cynthia Ramirez's husband, Hector, Liza reveals that she is taking up the role of a nurse and looking after other citizens in the safe zone. To show gratitude, Cynthia gives Liza soup before she leaves. The next day, Liza checks up on Cynthia and walks into her house uninvited. She makes her way to Hector's room only to realize that he's been removed from bed. She bumps into Cynthia who walks in with Bethany Exner, and questions Hector's whereabouts. Leaving the room upon request, Cynthia leaves Liza and Exner to talk privately. She describes Liza's method of caretaking as "unorthodox" and begins speculating that Liza's really isn't a nurse. Liza confesses and admits that she only wanted to help. Coming to an understanding, Exner offers Liza the chance to help alongside her. Liza tells Exner about other patients in need of care and brings her to examine Nick, considering his drug use and withdrawals. Later that night, Exner and Liza arrive with the military to transport Griselda to the medical facility. As Nick is violently dragged out of the house, Liza tries to convince Exner that Nick isn't in need of any medical attention, but is told that the hospital could use Liza's assistance. Liza, unable to turn down the offer, mouths the words "I love you" to Chris before leaving with the military. "Cobalt" When Liza is first seen in this episode, she is seen aiding Bethany Exner in the treatment of the wounded at the National Guard's makeshift hospital. Exner explains to her that she is understaffed and highly stressed with the number of patients coming into the facility. Liza witnesses a bite victim come into the hospital and be taken to the side to be put down. Liza is seen questioning Exner where Griselda is, as she wishes to see her and make her feel more comfortable during her stay at the hospital. To this, Exner explains that Griselda is in recovery and that her foot had to be amputated. Later in the episode, Liza is seen again searching for Griselda. Upon finding her, Liza discovers that she is not alone and is told by Exner that she has gone into septic shock. As they are examining her, Griselda begins mumbling in Spanish, to which Bethany asks Liza what she is saying. Liza states that she isn't making any sense. Exner informs her that Griselda's brain is swelling, and eventually Griselda begins gasping for air before her heart finally stops. It is after this that Exner explains that they have an unknown amount of time before she turns, and that they need to destroy her brain to prevent it from happening. As Exner begins to use a cattle gun to shoot Griselda, Liza takes it from her hand, willing to do it herself. Liza shoots Griselda in the head, thus preventing her from reanimating as a zombie. "The Good Man" Back at the medical facility, Liza gets word of Operation Cobalt and that the base is under evacuation. Prepared to leave, Liza questions if her family will be saved as well. When Exner questions what Liza considers her "true" family, she restates Chris and Travis. Sometime after, Liza accompanies Exner on a rooftop and witnesses countless of the infected ambushing the perimeter. This causes a fail with the evacuation and Exner orders all of the doctors to leave the facility, especially Liza. Using her key card to exit the building, Liza sees the war up close. After she is offered a helping hand from a soldier, she declines the transportation. Slowly, the zombies began to slip through the fences, and Liza witnesses a soldier commit suicide—running to into the spinning rudder of a helicopter after being bit. When more zombies begin breaking through, she runs back inside for safety. Just in time, Liza bumps into Maddie, Travis and the rest of the group who are fighting to get Nick and Strand out from behind locked doors. Using her key card, they successfully escape. Making their way through the building, Liza is attacked, but is saved by Ofelia and shoots a few of zombies. Liza is eventually asked by Daniel and Ofelia on Griselda's whereabouts, and with a heavy heart, Liza tells them of her unfortunate death. Returning to the medical ward for Exner's help, Liza realizes Exner has killed every patient within the ward. After Exner tells them of a way out, Liza asks Exner to accompany them. With no response from Exner, Maddie pulls Liza back; telling her that Exner has already made her choice. After Liza and the group locate Alicia and Nick, they are ambushed by Andy. Andy shoots Ofelia in the arm, and as Travis takes him down, Liza runs to Ofelia's aid. The group drives away from the facility, and reaches Stand's well-secured home. Once the family realizes their safe, Liza embraces Chris and tells him she loves him. Exiting the house, she is followed by Maddie, who's concerned. Liza reveals a scratch mark on her hip, and resorts to suicide but tells Maddie she can't go through with it. When Maddie disagrees, Liza notes back to when Maddie requested Liza to do the same. She hands Maddie the gun and Travis stumbles upon the two and learns of Liza's infection. Liza begs Travis to kill her in order to prevent her from turning and makes him promise to protect their son. As she braces herself to be killed, a loud gunshot is heard from Strand's home. When Chris reaches her body, he sobs over her corpse. Season 2 "Monster" After being mercifully shot in the head by Travis, Liza's corpse joins the group in boarding Abigail. Chris can be seen mourning Liza throughout the episode, given the fact he remains close to her corpse. After a small discussion, the group decide to cast her off into the ocean. After Travis says a final obituary, Chris hastily pushes her corpse off the boat, where it slowly sinks into the ocean. Killed Victims This list shows the victims Liza has killed: *Griselda Salazar (Before Reanimation) *Numerous counts of unnamed people (Before Reanimation) *A few zombies Death Killed By *Daniel Salazar (Indirectly Caused) When Travis and Daniel lead their party to rescue Nick, Liza and Griselda, Daniel broke open the doors of the arena, and unleashed a zombie horde of 2,000 into the military base for distracting the guarding soldiers in order to infiltrate it successfully. Ironically and unfortunately, one zombie out of the 2,000 bites Liza later. *Zombies (Caused) While escaping the military base, Liza gets shallowly bitten on the ribs by a walker. *Travis Manawa (Out of Mercy) Liza begs Travis to kill her in order to prevent her from turning and makes him promise to protect their son. As she braces herself to be killed, a loud gunshot is heard from Strand's home. After that, Liza's corpse with a bullet hole on the forehead can be seen lying on the ground with Chris rushed to grieve over it. Relationships Travis Manawa Travis was Liza’s ex-husband and the father of her son, Chris. Although they were not together, they negotiated who Chris got to spend time with on certain weekdays, proving that Liza was on good terms with Travis and trusted him enough to leave him around their child. Travis and Liza also had great communication skills whenever dealing with their son’s attitude towards Travis, considering Chris thought he was to blame. Despite being divorced, they worked together to raise their son as well as they could. Even when Chris was caught in the middle of a protest, Liza traveled with Travis to locate their son. Ultimately, Liza and Travis respected one another and shared the same amount of love for their only son. When Liza was bitten, she placed her trust in Travis to kill her before she turned. Although Travis was hesitant to pull the trigger, she mentioned that they would be doing it for their son, knowing that Chris would never have to do it. After shooting Liza, Travis breaks down in tears. Chris Manawa Chris is the only son of Liza and Travis. She adored him and deeply cared for his well being. Divorced from his father, Liza did what she thought was best, and encouraged Chris to spend as much quality time with him. Being a teenager, Chris often had a rebellious attitude towards Liza, which she learned to manage. Even though she did leave him at one point to work at the medical facility, she knew Chris would be in the safe hands of Travis’ family. Before Chris found out she was bitten, Liza told him that she loved him and later admitted to Travis and Maddie that she didn’t want Chris to experience killing her if the time came. Madison Clark Although it was never specified, it was heavily implied that Maddie and Liza weren't so favorable of one another. Maddie made it evident that her family was her top priority, and could care less for the safety of Liza and possibly her son. Regardless of that, Liza decided to form an alliance with Maddie when she realized their current situation. Although, at one point, she lost Maddie's trust by letting the military take Nick, she redeemed herself when saving him from a pack of zombies at the military facility. It goes without saying that Liza was also thankful for the nurturing of her son while she was gone. When Liza was scratched, she placed her trust in Maddie after she confronted Liza's odd behavior. Liza asked Maddie if she could do the favor in killing her, however, Maddie couldn't bring herself to do it. Griselda Salazar Along with Travis and Chris, Liza was introduced to Griselda when she encouraged her husband, Daniel, to hide them in his barber shop during the riots. When Griselda was injured in the middle of a riot, Liza tended to her wound. Liza knew the extent of the damage, and presumed that it met Griselda would die. Doing what she could to care for the injury, she eventually placed Griselda under the care of Exner. She suffered septic shock, and Griselda died. To save her from coming back as a zombie, Liza took it upon herself to shoot her with the cattle gun. Cynthia Ramirez Liza presumably liked Cynthia. This is probably because she was more than willing to help Cynthia's husband, Hector. Cynthia was very grateful for this. This is shown when she offers Liza some soup and asks her to stay longer at Cynthia's home. Also, Cynthia praised Liza for her help with Hector when Dr. Exner came over to help him further. Nick Clark Aware of his history of drug abuse and situation with withdrawals, Liza showed concern towards Nick's health. Liza took it upon herself to look after sick citizens in the safe zone after being quarantined. On behalf of Liza, Nick was also one of the first to receive medical examination from Exner. When the military tore Nick from his family, Liza opposed, stating that she initially planned on looking after him on her own. Either way, he was taken to the facility and she constantly questioned his status as if he were her on son. When the area was overrun by zombies, she ran back into the building for the sole purpose of finding and rescuing him. Bethany Exner Liza saw Dr. Exner as an interference on her medical care at the safe zone initially, but gain a closer friendship later in season 1. When unwell people from the safe zone were being transported to the medical facility, Exner advised Liza to come along as a help in the medical ward, to which Liza eventually agreed. At the facility, Liza and Exner were often seen together, talking about dynamics on the outside, patients or Liza's family. When Exner realized that the facility was to get overrun with zombies, she told Liza to go and escape. However, Liza returned later to ask Exner for advice, but discovers that she had euthanized all the patients and Liza is shocked by this. After she gives advice, Exner tells them that there is still nowhere to go. Liza asks her to come with them and help other people, but she refuses. Ofelia Salazar Daniel Salazar TBA Appearances Fear The Walking Dead Season 1 *"Pilot" *"So Close, Yet So Far" *"The Dog" *"Not Fade Away" *"Cobalt" *"The Good Man" Season 2 *"Monster" (Corpse) Trivia *The casting call for this character used the name '''Andrea Chapman. **In the original casting call this character was described in a way that doesn't really match with Liza as she is played by Elizabeth Rodriguez, as "A somewhat wilted flower child, forty-something Andrea has retreated to the outskirts of the city to recover after a divorce" *Elizabeth is the last character to die in Season 1. **She is also the first living character to be killed out of mercy on-screen. *The actress, Elizabeth Rodriguez, shares the same first name as her character. *Liza is the first character to initially be credited as a series regular to be credited as a guest star in a later season, the second being Daniel in Season 4. References Category:Walking Dead Characters Category:Fear The Walking Dead Characters Category:Fear The Walking Dead Category:Season 1 Characters Category:Deceased Category:Medics Category:Season 2 Characters Category:Los Angeles